Modern vehicles are optionally equipped with more and more equipment for providing additional features and achieving more comfort. A majority of such equipment is proximate to or incorporated with a steering column assembly and is electrically activated. Typically, a 48-way column connector is utilized to connect the downlead wires associated with the steering column electronics to a steering column bulkhead. Furthermore, control circuits within a vehicle may incorporate various optional or standard equipment, such as a remote keyless entry system (RKE) that may also incorporate a burglar-proof device, a remote control starting device, a vehicle condition displaying system, a global positioning system (GPS), and a telephone remote control burglar-proof system, etc. Such equipment, however, is increasingly and typically provided as standard equipment. As a result, an increase in wiring cable and antennas is necessary for local and remote operation of the equipment, which makes it difficult to tidily manage and arrange the increased variety of sensor and control electronics within a limited amount of packaging room available to a vehicle.
An electrical system mounted high on a steering column subassembly for a vehicle comprising a column electronics control assembly having a plurality of interconnectable components plugged together. A method for integrating a vehicle wireless communication device is also disclosed comprising: modifying a steering column subassembly to include a circuit assembly modularly depending from a steering column subassembly and further including a communications interface for data exchange between the circuit assembly and vehicle systems, wherein the communications interface, and circuit assembly comprise a sense and control module; and positioning, adapting and configuring said sense and control module for modular communication with a plurality of interconnectable components.